Chapter 6

When I returned to the apartment, I found that the door code had been changed.

The property manager stood outside, looking awkward. "Mr. Callahan, this apartment is registered under Ms. Monroe's name. The company just notified us that, effective today, you're no longer allowed to use it."

My belongings had been packed into several cardboard boxes and dumped haphazardly in the hallway.

My trophies, scripts, and clothes were all mixed together. One of my trophies had even been broken off at the base. It was the first Best Actor award I'd ever won.

On the night I received it, Zara had held me in her arms and told me that this trophy mattered more to her than every business the Monroe family owned.

Now, her staff had thrown it on the floor like a piece of trash.

I picked up the broken trophy, pulled my laptop out of a box, and sat down in the hallway to check my work email.

Incorrect password.

I couldn't access the company's cloud drive, publicity platform, or business management system either.

I had also been forcibly logged out of my public social media account. I tried to recover my password, only to discover that the phone number linked to the account had long since been changed to the company's number.

Monroe Media hadn't started controlling my work today.

Ever since Zara had personally taken on the role of my executive assistant, she'd held every channel through which I communicated with the outside world in her hands.

I once believed she was protecting me. Only now did I realize that those same controls could lock me inside a prison at any moment.

My phone rang again. Zara was calling.

I hung up.

She called six more times in a row before sending me a message.

[Come back when you're done throwing your tantrum. If you apologize to me, I'll bury all the negative publicity about you. Without Monroe Media speaking up for you, no one will listen to your side of the story.]

A few seconds later, my management team issued another statement: [Bridger is temporarily suspending work due to health reasons. He has absolutely no plans to retire from the entertainment industry. We ask the public not to spread false information.]

Even my right to leave was something Zara wanted to control.

I opened my laptop and searched deep in my email for an account I hadn't logged into in years. I created it when I first entered the entertainment industry.

Back then, I had no assistant and no team. I used that account to document my life as an extra, day after day.

After Zara founded her company, I never used it again. The account had never been connected to Monroe Media. It was still linked to my own ID and phone number.

I completed the identity verification process, placed my three trophies and identification documents in front of the camera, and recorded a video.

"I'm Bridger Callahan. The statement my management team just released was published without my consent. From this moment on, nothing posted by that account represents me or speaks on my behalf."

After uploading the video, I opened the retirement announcement I'd already drafted.

"I'm Bridger Callahan, and effective immediately, I'm officially retiring from the entertainment industry.

I will honor my existing contracts and take responsibility for any applicable termination fees for projects that have yet to begin filming.

"As for what happened on set, I will release a full statement once my injuries have been assessed and all relevant evidence has been gathered.

"Thank you to everyone who genuinely enjoyed my work."

Before sending it out, I forwarded the announcement to the film association and three media outlets.

Then I logged into the cloud. The photos of the confirmation forms the director had deleted were still intact in my album.

I backed up the on-site recordings, my doctor's diagnosis, and the false apology statement the company had prepared.

Then I called the person in charge of my family trust.

"Unfreeze the funds under my name. Transfer $300 million to Monroe Media first."

Zara thought that leaving her meant I'd lose everything.

But she'd forgotten something. I'd already spent two years struggling to survive in this industry on my own before I met her three years ago.

My first role wasn't something she'd given me out of charity. I'd ranked first in that audition from the beginning.

She'd simply appeared when I was at my most miserable and made me mistake her help for salvation.

I looked at the retirement announcement on my screen and hit "Send".

Ten seconds later, the comments had topped ten thousand. A minute later, the related topics were trending.

[Bridger Callahan Announces Retirement]

[Bridger Callahan Denies His Own Management Team's Statement]

[Bridger Callahan Says He Will Release Evidence From the Film Set]

The narrative Monroe Media had prepared was torn open in an instant.

People online began asking why an actor couldn't control his own account, and why I had decided to leave the industry for good just hours after being dropped by the production.